Revealed: The Top Performing CEOs In The World 2014

2. John Martin

John C. Martin, Ph.D., age 62, was appointed as Chairman of Gilead's Board in 2008 and has served as Gilead's Chief Executive Officer and member of Gilead's Board of Directors since April 1996. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the California Healthcare Institute. He also serves on the University Of Southern California Board Of Trustees.

Under Martin's leadership, Gilead has become the second-most-valuable independent biotech company behind Amgen. Gilead's drug Altripla, combining three medications in a single pill, is the most prescribed HIV treatment in America and is expected to remain so for years.

3. John Chambers

Chambers joined Cisco in 1991 as senior vice president, Worldwide Sales and Operations. Since January 1995, when he assumed the role of CEO, the company has grown from $70 million in annual revenues to its current run-rate of approximately $46 billion. In November 2006, he was named Chairman of the Board, in addition to his CEO role. He has featured in CNN's Top 25 Most Powerful People list and also in Time Magazine's ‘100 Most Influential People’ reports rediff.